Darkness and Light
by Half-elf
Summary: An examination of the prophecy and what it means to the royal family.


Darkness and Light

By: Half-elf

AN: I was watching Tin Man one evening and I was thinking about the prophecy. This is the result of my ponderings… and caffeine. Lots of caffeine. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

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The majestic Queen of the OZ

Had two lovely daughters she.

One to darkness, she be drawn.

And one to light, she be shown.

Double eclipse, it is foreseen

Light meets dark in the stillness between.

But only one, and one alone,

Shall hold the Emerald and take the throne

O.o.o.o.o.O

The old tome lay on its stand before him as he poured over it, hoping for some insight from its worn pages. "You've been staring at that thing every night for a week." Tutor turned to see the Tin Man leaning in the doorway. "Care to share your thoughts?"

Tutor sighed and spun the tome to face him. "I haven't really looked at that in… well a long time."

Cain looked down at the book then turned his eyes back to Tutor, brows raised. "The prophecy?"

"Uh-huh." Tutor nodded slowly. "Always knew it but… I suppose I never spent enough time studying it." He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms. "After everything that's happened though…" He shrugged.

Cain traced two lines in particular. "'One to darkness… one to light…' Yeah. I've been thinking about that too." Tutor cocked a brow and Cain narrowed his eyes. "Picking up on the little things is what I do. So… what are you thinking?"

He leaned back in his chair. "Doesn't mean anything now. Not really."

Cain pulled up a chair and sat across from him, elbows leaning on his knees. "It'll mean something to DG. To Azkadellia too."

Rubbing a hand tiredly over his face Tutor sighed. "I know." They were silent for a few minutes, both thinking about the impact this would have on both women.

Another sigh escaped him as he sat up and pulled the book towards him again. "I always took it for granted that Azkadellia was the sister drawn to darkness. It made sense. She was the one who was terrorizing the OZ… She killed DG… It just made so much sense." A heavy silence stretched. "But after DG mentioned what happened at the cave…" He turned to meet Cain's eyes. "I never heard that before. I never knew **why** Azkadellia changed. All I knew was that she had."

Cain nodded, giving Tutor the forgiveness he seemed to be searching for. "No one knew. The Queen didn't even realize until it was too late."

Tutor nodded, although he didn't look entirely reassured. He shook himself out of his funk and continued on with the issue at hand. "When DG first mentioned what had happened at the cave something hummed in the back of my mind but I didn't have the time to concentrate on it. It wasn't until after the eclipse that I realized what everything meant."

Cain nodded slowly. "Once everything settled-"

Tutor snorted. "Once DG was out of danger you mean?"

A glare silenced him. "When everything settled I started to look at the inconsistencies." He shrugged. "But people tell me I tend to be overly suspicious," he ignored Tutor's murmur that sounded like 'paranoid' and continued. "So I've kept those thought to myself. But now that I know you've been thinking too…" He shrugged.

Tutor's mouth twisted into a grimace. "That Azkadellia was never the sister drawn to darkness."

Both men let the silence stretch, allowing the thought that had plagued them to settle. Then Tutor continued. "I began to think as much when DG told us her memory of the cave. How she was the one who heard the cry, how she felt the pull, the desire to find out what was there. And then there were her actions during the eclipse. It was her light that was able to free Azkadellia."

"'And one to light, she be shown.'" Cain's voice echoed softly in the quiet of the library.

Tutor grunted and got to his feet. "Of course, this doesn't mean that DG is evil. It doesn't mean Azkadellia was evil either. If anything, this just means that DG has an almost over whelming sense of curiosity that often goes against better judgment."

Cain thought back to their trek through the OZ. There were plenty of examples that came to mind of her ignoring her safety to find out something or to help others. Foremost in his mind was charging into a clearing armed with only a stick. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, you could say that."

Fixing his jacket, Tutor looked at the stoic man before him. "Prophecies are tricky things. Most of the time you never fully understand them until after they've come to be." He began to exit the library but paused at the door. "I think it would ease their minds to know that neither of them are predestined to be evil." He walked out the door. "Good luck with that."

Cain glared at his retreating back. "Damn dog." He growled. He let out a sigh and slipped on his hat. "Now, how am I supposed to break this to DG?" A soft footfall came from behind him. Years of instinct surged through him. He whirled and brought his pistol up, aiming between his assailants eyes.

"It's okay, Mr. Cain."

Eyebrow raised, he uncocked the gun. "**Mr.** Cain?"

She ignored him and pressed on. "You don't have to tell me anything. I heard." She swallowed. "I know."

He started towards her. "Kiddo-"

"This just means that it really was my fault, Cain. Everything." She was breathing heavier now. "Everything that happened, everyone who was hurt." Tear filled eyes rose to meet his fierce ones. "Your family…"

He took hold of her arms in a firm grip. "Look at me, kid." She kept her eyes downcast. He licked his lips. "DG." He guided her back into a chair and knelt before her. "None of this was your fault."

She shook her head rapidly, as if trying to prevent his words from reaching her. "It's true." She met his gaze with eyes clouded with worry. "You know it's true."

Sighing, he rubbed the back of his neck wearily. Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. "Maybe it is."

She blinked in shock before trying, tearfully, to get up from the chair.

He grabbed her wrist firmly and forced her back into the chair. "Just wait a damn minute and hear me out." His voice was gruff, the seriousness of it catching her attention. She nodded.

"Look, maybe it happened this way because it was meant to. Maybe this was the only way to actually defeat the witch."

She snorted in disbelief. But refrained from commenting at his quelling glare. He continued.

"It took Dorothy Gale,' he smirked, 'the original Dorothy Gale, everything she had just to imprison the witch. Maybe it needed two of you, together, to finally defeat her."

She shook her head again. "But if I hadn't gone in there she never would have awoken in the first place. And if she didn't wake up we wouldn't have **needed** to defeat her."

His eyes narrowed. "Fine. We would've been off the hook this time. But you're curious DG. It's your nature, it's hardwired into you." He took the hand that was curled into a fist on her knee into his own. "But you'll have a kid one day. And I'd bet my hat that she'd be as curious as her mother."

A brief smile came to her face.

Squeezing her hand tighter he continued. "And one day, she'd wander off because she heard something and she'd find a cave." She tried to jerk her hand away but he held it tight. "And this time, there'd be no sister to call her back to the light."

"You don't know that. You don't." Her eyes were wide with fear and her chest rose and fell quickly. "There could be." He shook his head. "Why not?"

"You and Az are the first royal sisters in a very long time." He thought. "There has only been one child each generation since the beginning of your line. No one knows why."

"But… but…" Her eyes still spoke of her pain and fear.

Reaching up, he stroked her cheek. "It had to be now because no one could stand against her alone." Wiping away a tear that trickled down her cheek he let a soft smile touch his lips. "You're a great source of light, DG. This was meant to happen now because we needed both you and Az to do what no one else could."

A shaky smile graced her lips and her eyes lost their haunted look.

His thumb stroked her cheek. His eyes softened. "You're an amazing woman, DG." He smiled. "An amazing woman."

Her eyes filled again, this time with tears of happiness. "Wyatt." She launched herself from the chair and wrapped her arms around his neck. He rocked back, sitting on the floor. Drawing her into his lap he wrapped his arms around her. She nuzzled into his neck, drawing in strength and comfort.

They stayed that way for a long time.

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AN: Well, that's it. Hoped you liked it. I just wanted to work out how I saw the prophecy and how I think the characters would react to it after the fact.

Thanks for reading and please review.


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